Scouting Legion
by Jynxiii
Summary: The walls were never really enough to confine Petra, and now she wants to follow in her mother's footsteps and join the Scouting Legion. (Personal headcanon. Pre-manga/anime)


**So apparently if I ship Levi with anyone it has to be Petra. Because I'm a masochist. Ffff dammit...**

**I don't own Shingeki no Kyojin.**

Petra Ral was a child who had seen much too little in the world of which she was a part when she knew what she wanted in her life.

It wasn't the usual for a young girl - for anyone really. They wanted to be shopkeepers or farmers, far from the threat of the titans. Some branched out, wanted to join the Garrison or the military police, but no one in their right mind wanted to join the Scouting Legion.

But every time she went to watch the troops leave, her heart was pulled in the direction of the gate in the wall. She would stay there long after the crowds had gone, until one of her sisters came to drag her away.

"Why do you always stay out here for so long?" Liss said to her one time.

Petra shrugged and looked at her sister. "It must be nice to feel alive.

Liss rolled her eyes but didn't respond any further. She was used to these kinds of laments from her sister.

SNKAOT

The group was decimated as usual when they came back, reaching for support from the citizens that wouldn't come.

"A failed mission again… losing some of our best warriors… at least there's more food to go around…"

The last made Petra jump and her hands clenched into defiant fists.

"Shut up!" she called out. Nobody paid attention to her, so she ducked her head and pushed her way through the crowd to the man who had made that last exclamation. Ignoring the yelps and grumbles from the people, she repeated her words louder.

He looked at her in shock and his face broke into an amused smile. He was only a few years older, by the look of him, but towered over Petra's 5ft form. "I'm sorry?" he said.

"Shut up. They risk their lives for people like _you_ when they go out. Do you want to stay within the walls your entire life?"

He shrugged and turned back, as if she wasn't worth his time.

A short scuffle after he was rolling on the floor, yelling out over the pain that a particularly well-placed kick had caused. Petra crossed her arms, watching him in derision.

"That was a good kick." The voice came from behind her and she turned.

It was one of the soldiers, who had stopped and stepped out of the procession. Petra ducked her head. "Th-thank you."

He tugged at a bandage on his arm. "Have you ever thought about joining the Scouting Legion? We could use people like you." He left without saying another word, but Petra's mind was still reeling. If she had needed any proof as to where to go with her life that was it.

"Who was that? The man that talked to Petra Ral?" a female voice asked behind her.

A deeper voice responded. "I think that was Levi Rivaille. This is only the second time he's been out. Although if the rumours are true he's a prodigy. Last time he killed three titans singlehandedly. Big ones, too."

"3? That's incredible. His first time out?"

"I told you. He's a prodigy."

Petra left the crowd with her legs shaking. She'd been told – y a _prodigy_, no less – that she should join the Scouting Legion. That she could be useful. That _had_ to mean something.

There was something more, too. She'd felt something when he'd looked at her with that cool approval. The same rush of excitement as when she thought about getting out of the confines of these walls. She pressed a hand to her racing heart, but shook her head. "You're being ridiculous," she said softly to herself. He was a prodigy, not to mention rather older than her. He would never give her a second look.

SNKAOT

"I've decided that I'm going to join the Scouting Legion."

The reaction was exactly what Petra had expected. Her father jumped, dropping the dishes onto the floor. Her three sisters gaped at her and it was silent.

Petra kept the silence as long as she could, until she thought her ears would burst from the absence of sound.

"Say something, dad," she pleaded.

He sank down onto a chair.

"I can't believe… with everything that happened…" his voice trailed away into more silence.

"That's one of the reasons why."

"But your mother. She…" Petra waited for him to continue, but he wouldn't. He still hadn't said the words out loud, and Petra doubted that he ever would.

"I know," Petra said, closing her eyes. "But that's one of the reasons why." She fixed him with a look she hoped would come across as determined and courageous. . "I want to find the titan that killed mother. And I want to make them all pay. Nothing they get will ever be enough to repay the blood debt."

"You really want this, don't you?"

"I'll be one of the best, dad."

"I won't ever agree with you going out to fight titans. I don't want to lose you, Petra."

"You won't."

He shook his head. "You can't ever promise that."


End file.
